Browning Law Firm Personal Injury Blog

Fatal truck accidents like the one that killed Dan Lindner's family are all too common—happening nearly 11 times every single day in this country on average, and killing nearly 4,000 people each year, according to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration.

On top of that, more than 100,000 people are injured every year in truck crashes. That's as bad as if a commuter jet crashed every single week of the year, killing everyone on board. And the numbers have been getting worse: Truck-crash fatalities have increased since 2009, as an improving economy leads to more goods being shipped on American highways and more pressure being placed on trucking companies—and drivers—to get the loads delivered on time.

Texting bans can reduce teen traffic fatalities by as much as 11 percent, according to a new study of the effect of such state laws. Not all texting bans are alike, of course. But ones aimed at teens and that allow primary enforcement of the law — i.e. they don’t require officers to have another reason for the traffic stop — had the most dramatic effect, a team of researchers at the University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Public Health found in a study published in the August American Journal of Public Health.

A build-up of gas because of an unclosed valve may have led to the explosion that killed two workers near Orla in Loving County on April 30, 2014.

As the LA Times reported:

"Two oil well workers died and nine suffered minor cuts and bruises Wednesday after a high-pressure explosion in a West Texas county that is lightly populated but richly saturated with oil.

The two bodies were found about 20 feet from a wellhead that was being replaced, Loving County Sheriff Billy Hopper told The Times. The blast did not trigger a fire.

The sheriff identified the dead as Amos B. Ortega, 46, of Artesia, N.M., and Roberto Andrade Magdaleno, 41, of El Paso. Their deaths bring the number of workers killed in Loving County's oilfields to seven since 2006, he said.

Ortega and Magdalena were among about a dozen workers at the site as independent contractors for RKI Exploration & Production, which owns the well where the blast occurred Wednesday morning.

Hopper, the sheriff, said his best guess was that a valve wasn't closed, allowing natural gas or other high-pressure fumes from underground to build up and blow out one of two nearby wellheads. Shrapnel nicked several workers and spewed debris. The apparent force of the explosion -- with vibrations felt miles away -- led to the two deaths, Hopper said.

"I’m kind of dumbfounded myself," he said. "There was no active drilling on location. Just a truck and one of these equipment things to take off the control head."

According to the initial 911 caller, he said, a separator that divides oil from gas had blown up. But authorities didn't find a separator in operation at the scene, Hopper said.

The county has about 80 residents in its 675 square miles, making it one of the most sparsely populated regions of the country.

But more than 1,000 trucks pass through the county each week, heading to and from its more than 3,500 oil and natural gas wells.

The explosion site is about 12 miles from Orla, Texas, and six miles south of the New Mexico border.

Juwana Kinniburgh told the Carlsbad Current-Argus that her boyfriend, who was at the well, had to drive six miles to get a cell signal to call 911."

For the fifth time, Cade Browning of Browning Law Firm, PLLC has been selected for inclusion in the “TexasSuper Lawyers–Rising Stars Edition 2014” in the April 2014 issue of Texas Monthly magazine in the field of Civil Litigation.

Rising Stars are described as "outstanding lawyers who have demonstrated superior professional potential." The polling, research, and selection of Texas Super Lawyers–Rising Stars are performed by Law & Politics, a legal industry publisher. The selection process uses a three-part system to determine the top 2.5% of the up-and-coming lawyers in Texas. The selection process includes a survey of over 65,000 Texas lawyers, as well as an independent study by Law & Politics.

Super Lawyers can be found online at superlawyers.com, where lawyers can be searched by practice area and location.

According to the Texas Department of Transportation, the oil-booming Permian Basin saw a 13 percent increase in roadside deaths from 2012-2013. Last week, a victims’ rights coalition in Midland held a panel discussion on how to deal with the region’s increasingly dangerous roads. Organizers of the event say most of those wrecks stem from the “3 D’s” – drugs, drinking and distracted driving. But the oil and gas boom in the Basin is compounding those dangers. Mdland County Sheriff Gary Painter says it’s hard to keep the roads safe because of the number of inexperienced drivers getting behind the wheels of big trucks.

People often forget the importance of the civil justice system in our country. If you haven’t seen the commentary on the importance of the civil justice system by CNN’s Michael Smerconish, it’s a must see.

Forrest Bowers, who flew a P-51 fighter plane over Japan in World War II and then became a lawyer in Brownfield and Lubbock, was named a Texas Legal Legend on Tuesday, April 1, by the Litigation Section of the State Bar of Texas. It is a well deserved honor for a true legend and the father of a great friend and wonderful lawyer, Fred Bowers

orrest Bowers, in addressing the audience, spoke of the “good old days” of practicing law. “When I say ‘the good old days,’ I mean to emphasize that there has been a great change in the practice of law since I started 63 years ago.”

He added, “I have a message that I want to give to the lawyers that are here today, but especially to law students: If I were required to put a title on the remarks I want to make today, I would have to call it ‘stem the tide.’ ”

He added, “There have been movements in the past several years that have, in my opinion, effectively closed the courthouse doors to the most valuable right of a trial by jury.”

He said his message is that it’s vitally important to keep courthouse doors open and perpetuate the trial-by-a-jury system.

Distracted Driving accounts for one in every five vehicle wrecks in Texas. A bulletin the Texas Department of Transportation released April 2 shows 459 people died in Texas last year in crashes caused by distracted drivers and the total number of collisions caused by inattentive motorists increased by 4 percent compared to the previous year. We should expect the Texas Legislature to take up texting and driving and other distracted driving causes when the session is called early next year.

At the request of the Browning Law Firm and in honor of the senseless loss of 8 year old Jarrett Mantanona Representative Susan King graciously filed HB 1012 and HB 1013. HB 1012 aligns the age of a minor under the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Code with the legal requirement to pursue civil action while HB 1013 defines the crime of giving alcohol to a minor — if it results in serious injury or death of the minor — as a state jail felony. The Bills honor the memory of Jarrett Paul Mantanona, a young Abilene boy killed in a Coleman County traffic accident caused by a drunken 18-year-old driver who was provided alcohol by a twenty-nine year old man.

Testimony was taken on April 9, 2013 in the License and Administrative Committee. Cade was honored to be there with the family and to try to help bring some good out of such a tragic event.

For the fourth time, Cade Browning of BROWNING LAW FIRM, PLLC has been selected for inclusion in the “Texas Super Lawyers–Rising Stars Edition 2013” in the April 2013 issue of Texas Monthly magazine in the field of Plaintiff Personal Injury.

Rising Stars are described as "outstanding lawyers who have demonstrated superior professional potential." The polling, research, and selection of Texas Super Lawyers–Rising Stars are performed by Law & Politics, a legal industry publisher. The selection process uses a three-part system to determine the top 2.5% of the up-and-coming lawyers in Texas. The selection process includes a survey of over 65,000 Texas lawyers, as well as an independent study by Law & Politics.

Super Lawyers can be found online at superlawyers.com, where lawyers can be searched by practice area and location.

Browning’s practice is devoted to personal injury litigation and trial work throughout West Texas.

A Zavala County jury returned a verdict that legal experts estimate will probably be $162-million or more after a hearing is held to determine the final damages. The case before 365th District Cout basically centered on claims by a small privately-held oil company that a larger energy conglomerate stole leases from them in the Eagle Ford. Through initial production and assessments these leases are predicted to produce some $19-billion in revenues from oil and gas finds. Plaintiff in the case was Longview Energy Company and named defendants included The Huff Energy Fund, L.P., WRH Energy Partners, L.L.C., W.R. Huff Asset Management Com., LLC, William R. “Bill” Huff, Rick D’ Angelo, Ed Dartley, Bryan Bloom, Riley-Huff Energy Group, LLC and Bobby Riley. Longview Energy typically seeks investors for oil deals the company finds and puts together and through their operations attracted the attention of The Huff Energy Fund. Staff, Eagle Pass Leader 06/12/2012
Read Article: Eagle Pass Leader

The Browning Law Firm serves clients throughout the State of Texas including but limited to the cities of Abilene, Sweetwater, Anson, Albany, Baird, Clyde, Merkel, Buffalo Gap, Tuscola, Lawn, Santa Anna, Coleman, Cisco, Hawley, Haskell, Aspermont, Robert E. Lee, Cleburne, Decatur, Weatherford, Graham, Breckenridge, San Angelo, Sonora, Ozona, Colorado City, Big Spring, Snyder, Throckmorton, Brownwood, Nolan, Tye, Trent, Mason, Brady, Ballinger, Comanche, Eastland, Fort Stockton, Roscoe, Big Lake, Brady, and Junction. Counties include but are not limited to Taylor County, Nolan County, Eastland County, Palo Pinto County, Jones County, Shackelford County, Haskell County, Throckmorton County, Kent County, Stonewall County, Fisher County, Johnson County, Parker County, Brown County, Howard County, Pecos County, Stephens County, Mason County, McCulloch County, Coke County, Tom Green County, Mitchell County, Concho County, Coleman County, Wise County, Jack County, Erath County, Runnels County, Callahan County, Reeves County, Andrews County, Baylor County, Archer County, Young County, Ector County, Midland County, and Crane County.